i literally can’t stop thinking abt that richard siken quote where he falls to the floor crying but all he can focus on is the details of the wall in front of him
“Eventually something you love is going to be taken away. And then you will fall to the floor crying. And then, however much later, it is finally happening to you: you’re falling to the floor crying thinking, “I am falling to the floor crying,” but there’s an element of the ridiculous to it — you knew it would happen and, even worse, while you’re on the floor crying you look at the place where the wall meets the floor and you realise you didn’t paint it very well.”
Got bad news for them about the ages of who is writing the books and scripts and filming the movies and tv shows they like …
Got real bad news for them about the age of the people who run AO3.
Got further bad news about the age of many of the popular writers in most fandoms.
Someone’s gonna be horrified we hen they find out how old the actors playing their faves are…
So this post circled back around and I wanna clarify my snarky comment at the start. I was purposefully pointing at the creators of tv shows and movies and books, not fans in fandom, for a reason. Most of those influential figures are white men in their 40s, 50s, 60s, even 70s. For long established book series, i.e. Tolkien or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, they’re long dead.
It really troubles me that there’s this rise in teens targeting older fans (hell most aren’t even old, I would not call someone in their 30s old) while blissfully consuming media created by men twice the age of those fans they’re saying should go do their taxes or take care of babies or whatever.
Why are older men allowed to create, shape franchises, set ongoing stories for decades … and older women (let’s be real this stuff is almost always lobbed at an older woman for daring to have a hobby and friends) are expected to fade into the background and never speak up about their interests, or indeed have interests, ever again?
What is happening to these kids? I see teenage girls insisting that any woman over 30 is a hag, a creep, pathetic, and should no longer speak to friends online or go to conventions or enjoy stories or create crafts or write for fun. That’s what they think of their futures? That past a certain age they aren’t allowed to have friends, hobbies, interests, spend money on things for their own enjoyment, do things for fun rather than profit?
That’s bleak as hell.
It’s super bleak, and it makes me sad, and angry too. Additionally to what’s been said about ageism and misogyny, it seems to me like they’re succumbing to the very capitalist idea that people over a certain age (25? idk) shouldn’t do anything for fun, but only for profit. And that’s…horrible, really. That’s not how human beings work, and one of the reasons why burn-out and depression are soaring to new heights is because of this mindset - that people should only work, only sell their talents, but not have the time or energy for playing. We need playing though. We need fun, we need hobbies, be it at age 15 or 50. Their refusal to accept that adults could possibly need fun and games too - other than, say, the very male-centric stuff like watching sports etc.? That is what capitalist brainwashing looks like.
It’s a very much a conservative “women of childbearing age shouldn’t have any interests apart from making babies and doing housework” attitude that makes me worry about people who consider themselves fairly liberal now making a hard pivot rightward as they get older.
It’s very much the fandom equivalent of “get back in the kitchen”
Bugger off.
I realize this isn’t the point of the post, but I loves me some smut, and the quality stuff isn’t being written by the 21 year old who’s had 2 entire awkward sexual encounters with guys who had equally little idea of what they’re doing. It’s being written by those 30 something mamas who’ve seen some shit. So shout out to them and their smutty experienced brains.
“If I would kill you, then I wouldnt be any better than y….” “Are you serious? You just broke into my hideout and slaughtered 90% of my henchmen! At this point you caused more deaths than I have!”
Anonymous
